In the printing industry, it is sometimes necessary to process media multiple times in order to create a final product. For example, media such as paper may be pre-printed in an offset press, then run through a digital press/printer in order to add unique (variable) information. In other instances, a digital printer may not have enough capability (e.g., an ink jet printer may not be able to print Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR), or a monochrome printer may not be able to print color/highlight color).
In these cases, it may be necessary to process the media through multiple, independent digital printing devices in order to achieve the final product. To highlight their independence, the printing devices may be located in different buildings or countries and having no external network connection. Thus, the printed output may be processed immediately or hours or days apart.
Moreover, the second printing device that applies the MICR variable data is typically implemented with a third party post processor or is a third party post processor. However, such a solution requires the purchase of additional hardware from the third party vendor.
Accordingly, a single source integrated mechanism for processing media is desired.